The next update to the AirPods Pro is once again rumored to include cameras, but the Apple Intelligence-aiding elements allegedly won't bump the price up.

For Apple Intelligence to be more useful for queries about your local environment, it needs to access cameras. In lieu of smart glasses like Apple Glass, the rumor mill firmly believes that the AirPods Pro may hold the answer.

In a Friday tweet by repeated leaker Kosutami, Apple's next AirPods Pro will be able to "see around you." This is in reference to rumors that Apple will add cameras to the AirPods Pro.

The short tweet is a little cryptic and very light on detail. The only other element it discusses is price, with the camera-equipped version claimed to cost the same price as the current model.

This seems somewhat unlikely to occur. A small refinement is easily absorbed in the sale price, but significant changes like adding cameras are more likely to force a rise in price to match.

The leaker doesn't provide other information, such as when to expect such a model to hit the market. But it does resurface earlier rumors about the model.

Kosutami has a relatively mixed record when it comes to rumor accuracy. While it has shown prototypes collected by the account holder in the past, such as alleged color tests of AirPod charging cases, they have also made inaccurate claims about the Apple Watch.

Future vision

The discussion of imaging sensors on AirPods Pro appeared back in June 2024, thanks to the musings of analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. At the time, it was said that infrared camera modules would be used, providing a view of the environment as an expansion of the Apple Vision Pro, to enhance Spatial Audio.

Later, in July 2025, Apple was granted a patent for a way to use cameras for proximity detection, such as in AirPods or other wearable devices. Rather than full computer vision, these sensors would use multiple light sources which the sensor would see, like the dot projector used by Face ID for 3D depth mapping.

Rumors have also expanded the remit of the sensors to make them imaging devices or IR cameras for the environment. This data could be fed into Apple Intelligence, providing it with Visual Intelligence data to work from alongside any images taken with an iPhone camera.

For a company like Apple, which has struggled to create its fabled smart glasses, placing cameras on AirPods would provide a similar benefit, since they already provide access to Siri and are in prime placement for viewing the local environment around the user.

Kuo made multiple comments about the release timing of the camera-equipped AirPods Pro, including that mass production would start in 2026.